Possessive pronouns – with audio!

What’s yours is mine.

Learning possessive pronouns is big time important.

Why?

Imagine you have a slice of chocolate cake in the fridge. There is a big and crucial difference between the sentence “the last slice of chocolate cake is mine” and “the last slice of chocolate cake is yours”. Getting this wrong in many households could start World War 3.

This is why it’s essential for us to master Spanish possessive pronouns today.(For the sake of all unclaimed slices of cake.)

But how can you get the hang of expressing possession?

In this article, we’re going to dig deeper into this portion of Spanish grammar. We’ll take a look at some tips that will help you quickly master the possessive.

In this article we’ll cover:

• What is a possessive pronoun in Spanish?
• When to use it
• Practice time 
• Final words

Are you ready to take your Spanish to the next level? 

Then let’s get started.

What is a possessive pronoun in Spanish?

To become more confident with this portion of Spanish grammar, we need to get to know it better.

So, what is a possessive pronoun?

Spanish possessive pronouns are similar to possessive adjectives. Here are some examples of possessive adjectives. 

• Mine
  Mío

• Yours
  Tuyo 

• Ours
  Nuestros/nuestras

Possessive adjectives are normally used with a definite article. Here are some examples of definite articles. 

• El
• Los
• La
• Las 

Do you feel a little rusty when it comes to Spanish pronouns and adjectives? Then why don’t you check out some articles on these subjects on our website?

Memorizing Spanish grammar is the tricky part of learning the language. So coming up are some tips that will assist you with remembering the rules to help you to form sentences quickly.

When to use it

In the table below, you’ll find the Spanish possessive in all of its forms.

Note: The third-person singular and plural and the second-person formal are the same. This means there is less for you to memorize. The word “suyo/suya” can mean: 

• His
• Hers
• Yours
• Theirs

Here are some examples of the possessive in sentences. 

• The shirt is mine
  La playera es mía

• The books are yours
  Los libros son tuyos

• The pillow is his
  La almohada es suya

• The bird is ours
  El pájaro es nuestro

So far so good? 

Then let’s move on to something completely new. The neutral possessive pronoun.

I hear you loud and clear. What on earth is a neutral possessive pronoun? 

A neutral possessive pronoun is used when the possessed object is abstract or unspecific. The object could be an abstract or unspecific thing, share, chore, or pretty much anything else. 

The Spanish neuter possessive pronoun is formed with the neuter article “lo” plus one of the following masculine singular possessive pronouns:

• Mío
• Tuyo
• Suyo

Examples:

• Don’t you want mine (my work, my share…)?
  ¿No quieren lo mío? 

• He lost his (his things)
  Perdió lo suyo

• How much is ours (our share)?
  ¿Cuánto es lo nuestro?

Ok, so as you’ve gathered, there’s plenty to learn here about possessive pronouns. Mastering this grammar really helps to make your Spanish more fluent.

But how can you make sure that you are forming the possessive correctly? 

Here are 3 things you should remember about the possessive that will help you when forming sentences.

1. In Spanish, there are different types of possessive pronouns depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine, singular or plural.

2. Spanish possessive pronouns have 4 forms that must agree in the following areas:

• In gender (masculine or feminine) 
• In number (singular or plural) 
• With the noun in the sentence they replace

3. Possessive pronouns in Spanish are the words that replace nouns modified by possessive adjectives.

Well, that was a lot to chew. So, let’s have a look at some examples that will shed some more light on the subject.

Remember, the possessive pronoun must match the noun being replaced in gender and number and the appropriate definite article must be used.

Example:

• My brother is here; where’s yours?
  Mi hermano está aquí; ¿dónde está el tuyo?

Note: When a possessive pronoun follows the verb “ser”, the article can be omitted

Here are a couple of examples of this:

• These books are yours
  Estos libros son tuyos

• That sandwich was mine
  Ese bocadillo era mío

As we just saw, we can put sentences together that omit the owner. But you can also emphasize it if you want to.

Example:

• Your ideas are good, but mine are better
  Tus ideas son buenas, pero las mías son mejores.

• These pens, are they yours or ours?
  Estas plumas, ¿son las suyas o las nuestras?

It’s helpful to know that when the singular possessive pronoun is preceded by the preposition “a” or “de”, the preposition contracts with the singular definite article to make el, la, los, and las.

Let’s take a look at a couple of examples of this:

• Talk to your dad; I’ll talk to mine
  Habla a tu padre; yo hablaré al mío.

• He’s enjoying his class, but I’m not enjoying mine
  Él disfruta de su curso, pero yo no disfruto del mío.

Spanish possessive pronouns are identical to the stressed form of possessive adjectives, but they are used differently. Possessive pronouns replace nouns, while possessive adjectives modify nouns.

Examples:

• This house is yours 
  Esta casa es la suya.

• Your car is better than mine
  Tu coche es mejor que el mío.

Practice time

Exercise 1: Translate the following sentences:  

1. Are these jeans yours?
2. Are these dogs yours?
3. The girl in the orange dress is your boss
4. I have my keys. Do you have yours?
5. I like his jacket, but I prefer yours
6. That pizza isn’t yours, it’s mine

Exercise 2: Fill in the following blanks:

1. Necesito el libro de la clase. ¿Me prestas el ______(yours)?
2. Mis lentes son parecidos a los _______ (yours)
3. Mi casa está lejos pero la ______ (hers) está cerca
4. Te doy mi numero de celular pero tu me das el ______ (yours)
5. Mi hermana es muy amiga de la ______(yours)

Final words

There we have it. You’ve seen everything you need to use the possessive correctly in Spanish. And what’s more, you’re now on track to being able to use it confidently.

So what’s left to do now? 

Practice! That way you can consolidate what you’ve read in this guide. 

But what if you need a little motivation to start practicing? 一Why not practice with us?

Check out our series of Complete Spanish Grammar articles – everything you’ll ever need to know about Spanish grammar.

Or, learn more about LingoToGo here.

(One Week Free only available to students in the Americas and Europe. If you’re outside these regions, check out our offers here.)

Answers

These are the answers to all of the exercises in this possessive pronouns guide.

Exercise 1: 

1. ¿Estos jeans son tuyos?

2. ¿Estos perros son tuyos?

3. La chica del vestido naranja es tu jefa.

4. Tengo mis llaves. ¿Tienes las tuyas?

5. Me gusta su chaqueta, pero prefiero la tuya.

6. Esa pizza no es tuya, es mía.

Exercise 2:

1. Necesito el libro de la clase. ¿Me prestas el tuyo?

2. Mis lentes son parecidos a los tuyos.

3. Mi casa está lejos pero la suya está cerca.

4. Te doy mi número de celular, pero tú me das el tuyo.

5. Mi hermana es muy amiga de la tuya.

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